The Past Meets The Present
by Diana-Lupin
Summary: Chaffey Highschool's drama department is practicing for their performance of 'The Phantom of The Opera' when something goes terribly wrong. Read to find out! My first PhanPhic. Characters and descriptions based on the musical and the book by Gaston Leroux
1. The Storm

**Chapter I: The Storm**

"Okay, here's what we're going to do! We're going to Little Lottie and go on to Angel of Music. Where's Danae and Rudy!" shouted Mr. Masterson, one of the directors for Chaffey High school's latest production of "The Phantom of The Opera" by Gaston Leroux. Danae Allen had been in only 2 other productions before, Cinderella and Peter Pan. This was the first time that she had ever won the leading role in a school production; she was usually cast as ensemble.

"I'm right here, Masterson." She said as she came in from the stage right entrance from the drama room where she was just finishing up the chapter she was reading. She walked onto the stage and noticed that she still had The Phantom of The Opera her hands. She rushed back to the prop table and set the book there. She was already in full costume and was just putting on the last of her stage makeup when she had heard Masterson's voice booming through the speakers. He was so loud to her that she didn't think that he needed to be using the microphone from the sound director's box in the back of the house.

"Now where's Rudy?" At that moment, Rudy came out of the dressing room on stage left with his mask in his hands, his black hair all over the place and his shirt half buttoned. Mark handed him his microphone and Danae started buttoning up his shirt while he tried to get his hair done in the few seconds that Masterson was giving them. He looked strange to her in his vintage 1900's style suite since she was used to seeing him wearing clothing from the 1940's.

"Thanks, mademoiselle Daaé." said Rudy as he planted a kiss on her cheek. She hit him lightly on the arm and smirked when he rubbed where she had hit him. He always kissed his female friends so this wasn't a big deal to her. Now if he had kissed her on the lips that would've been a different story. Danae's boyfriend, Anthony, was down in California on a student exchange program and he had gotten the part of Raul, which suited him.

"Okay every body! Places!" yelled Masterson as Danae took her place at the dressing table, Anthony at the door and Rudy behind the two way mirror. Anthony started at his line behind the door to the dressing room.

"Little Lottie, let her mind wander. Little Lottie thought- what the heck!" At that moment all the lights and power in the auditorium had went out. That night during practice it had begun to rain. Hard. Danae thought that that might be a reason for the power outage. After all, this had happened once before in her sophomore year where they almost had to send the students home if Southern California Edison wasn't able to get the power running.

"Found a flashlight." Chris called out as he walked onto the stage, "But I'm not going down in the basement."

"I'll go." said Anthony

"I'll go with you. Geesh Chris, you're such a scardy-cat." said Danae. Part of her thespian initiation was to spend a whole night in GWS which was supposedly haunted. She didn't believe a word of it.

"And I'll come with you both." said Rudy as he grabbed an extra flash light from the prop table.


	2. Into the basement

**Chapter II: Into the Basement**

Danae shone the flashlight on the padlock that separated her and her 2 friends from the basement where the fuse box was. Chris had handed her the keys before she had walked off the stage. She pulled out an old key as put it into the lock and turned it. The iron gate made a loud creaking sound as Rudy pushed it up against the wall.

"Lady's first." He said as he put his arm out to signal her to move forward. She picked up the hem of her costume and walked down the steps in to the darkness of the basement staircase.

"Down into the lair of the Phantom we go, shall we see the light of day? We may never know." She said looking back at Anthony and Rudy who at that moment had put his mask back on and have a villainous chuckle.

"Are there really ghosts here?" asked Anthony and they came to the second landing.

"Yes, there were like two girls who shot themselves because they didn't get the parts they wanted, one guy actually jumped off the balcony and broke his neck on the seats in the house when he fell. He died instantly." said Rudy.

"Really?"

"No. Rudy's just trying to scare you. Actually no one really knows if this is really haunted. I think that it's all from the thespian initiation tradition that caused these rumors." said Danae as she stopped and grabbed Anthony's hand to reassure him, "Besides, if anything happens, we can always sacrifice Rudy." She said as she cast an evil look back at him.

"Whatever." said Rudy as they continued to walk down into the basement, "Oh crud."

"What?" said Danae as she looked back at Rudy. She immediately saw why. The flashlight that he was holding was growing dimmer and dimmer. "At least we still have one flashlight." she said as she waived her own flashlight.

Tip…Tap…Tip…Tap...Tip...Tap…Tip…

Someone was coming down the stairs, then came the sound of the person missing one of the steps and half falling, half running, down the steps.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" The person had just collided with Danae and they both fell over and the flashlight that was in Danae's had fell to the floor and smashed.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" Danae recognized that voice.

"Autumn?"

"What are you doing down here?"

"I was looking for you."

"Well, you found me. Did you just fall all the way down the stairs?"

"Yeah, these toe shoes don't exactly give you that much of a grip on smooth stone steps."

"Yeah, good point."

"I'd hate to interrupt this little reflective meeting, but we have no light." said Rudy.

"Actually we have some light. You still have that flashlight Rudy?" said Anthony.

"Yeah. But that's not going to help us much. Almost dead batteries, remember?"

"Yeah, and we're on the last lever of the basement. The fuse box is at the end of the corridor. Once we get somewhat close, we can use it to read the labels on the fuses and flip the switch. And then I can turn on the lights down here so we can find out way out." said Danae.

And so they went on. The hall was so dark that if any one of them were to wave a hand in front of the other, they would not be able to see it. Finally after what seemed like ages of walking in complete and utter darkness, Danae's had touched the wall.

"Rudy, turn on the flashlight."

The brown light flashed on the wall in front of them illuminating their surroundings with amber light. Danae quickly pulled out the keys and unlocked the fuse box. She knew that she only had a short amount of time to open it and flip the switch before the flashlight went out completely. She searched for the right switch and flicked it on. The she looked around for a light switch and couldn't find any.

"Oh crap! I can't find a light switch!"

"LOOK!" shouted Autumn, pointing to a white light coming towards them. It grew brighter and brighter. The flashlight in Rudy's hand fell to the ground and smashed like the other at the end of the corridor had done before. The light was coming closer and closer to them until it had engulfed them entirely. Danae reached for Anthony's hand, sensing that this was to be the end, found it and grasped it. She closed her eyes waiting for the light to go away. Waiting to feel her soul lifted out from her.

Nothing happened. At least she thought nothing happened. She was still holding onto Anthony's hand. She opened one eye and then another. Their surroundings had changed. The flashlight and the fuse box were no longer there. All around them were barrels and pieced of sets. There were the sounds of the voices up above them. French at first but soon it began to sound like English. They were definitely not in GWS anymore.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys! so that was chapter 2! WOOT! I think that i'll have chapter 3 done tomorrow, but you never know. I t might be the next day. I just want to thank all the people who reviewed this so far and i just have one thing to say to you all... **I LOVE YOU GUYS!** :)

And now to answer some reviews! FUN TIME! lol! I'm hyper!

**Koneko-chan16: **The names that i chose were those of my friends and myself. I'm Danae Allen, Rudy is one of my friends and Autumn (who i forgot to put in chapter 1 SORRY AUTUMN!) is my BFF, and Anthony is my boyfriend. I wuv him!


	3. Welcome to the Opera Populaire

**Chapter III: Welcome to the Opera Populaire**

Danae looked around her. They were certainly not in GWS any more. She looked around her and saw that she and her friends were in a cellar filled with pieces of old scenery.

Anthony leaned close to her ear and said, "Now what were you saying about the auditorium not being haunted?"

"I'll have to get back to you on that theory."

"I don't like it here." said Autumn. Danae looked around and couldn't believe that she didn't recognize the room before! This was the room where Joseph Buquet was hanged by the phantom! Danae's voice was quiet and she said to her friends, "I think we should go. We shouldn't be here."

And with that, they all exited the cellar. Danae was the last person to leave. She looked back and thought that she saw something moving in the shadows. She dismissed it as a paranoid thought and followed after Rudy.

Once they were far from the cellar, Danae started to look around the opera house. There seemed to be a lot going on. She looked around and saw someone she thought she recognized. He was about six foot two and had his sandy blond hair tied back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

"Excuse me? What's going on here?" she asked the man.

"Oh, the managers are holding auditions for Hannibal. Who are you?"

"My name is Danae, and these are my friends Autumn, Anthony and Rudy. Who are you?"

"I'm Mark Files."

"Now, about these auditions, can anybody try out?"

"Oui, anyone can try out. Are you going to try out?"

"Um, -." said Danae as she looked back at her friends, "Yeah, I think I should. What've I got to lose?"

* * *

This was going to be a long day. Firmin and Andre were trying to find someone who could replace Christine Daaé who had run off and married the viscount de Chagny. Of course this was going to nearly impossible since she was the best singer that the Opera Populaire had seen in years. Though maybe this time it would be easier considering that "O.G." was dead, though you could never be sure with an opera ghost. But at any rate they would be able to assign the lead role to Carlotta without some sort of accident occurring like the other times. Firmin sighed and looked at the huge line of girls going out for the lead role of Alisa in Hannibal.

"This is going to be a long day." He said to Andre as one of the girls finished singing.

Danae was looking over the shoulders of what seemed like 50 girls, all of whom where trying out when and overly dressed Spanish woman came walking past all of them.

"ESCUZIE! Monsieur I 'ave come to be your leading lady!"

"Who was that?" asked Anthony as he looked over Danae's shoulder.

"Carlotta, she's such a cow."

"Ah, Carlotta! So good to see you again! We haven't heard of you since the accident!" exclaimed M. Andre. "Will you be so kind as to sing for us?"

Danae had to cover her ears to stop them from bursting at the sound of Carlotta's voice. Her ears had always had extremely sensitive to any type of noises. They were so sensitive that her friends had called her "the werewolf" not only because of her love of astronomy but because her hearing seemed at times almost canine. After what seemed like ages, Danae opened up one of her eyes to see that almost all the girls had left except for two younger girls. She uncovered her ears and stood by her friends.

"Thank you Carlotta, once we are done with the rest of the auditions, we shall let you know our decision."

"I will be looking forward to it Monsieur." said Carlotta.

"Next please." Called M. Andre. Dane looked at the two girls who looked like they were seriously rethinking their decision to try out after Carlotta. They made up their minds and walked off the stage. Danae was starting to have her doubts too and started to retreat back to where her friends stood.

"Next?" with that, Anthony, Autumn and Rudy all pushed her out into the middle of the stage. She looked back at them as if they had just sentenced her to the gallows. "Ah, Mademoiselle, what is your name?"

"Err, my name is Danae Allen."

"Mademoiselle Danae, can you act?"

"Oui."

"Can you dance?"

"Oui."

"Can you sing?"

"Oui, if I couldn't do you think that I would be trying out for an opera?"

"Good point. Well, what are you going to sing for us Mademoiselle?"

"I can sing Alisa's aria in act three."

"Sing away, Mademoiselle."

Danae took a deep breath and exhaled slowly trying to calm her nerves. 'Act One: scene three. That's all it is, only without Raul or Carlotta's parts.' She thought to herself. Then she started to sing.

"Think of me, think of me fondly

When we've said good-bye.

Remember me once in a while

Please promise me you'll try.

And when you find that once again you long

To take your heart back and be free

If you ever find a moment spare a thought for me.

We never said our love is evergreen

Or as I'm changing as the sea

But if you can still remember,

Stop and think of me.

Think of all the things we've shared and seen

Don't think about the way things might have been.

Think of me, think of me waking silent and resigned.

Imagine me, trying too hard to put you from my mind.

Recall those days,

Look back on all those time

Think of the things we'll never do.

There will never be a day when I won't think of you!

Flowers fade,

The fruits of summer fade

They have their season and so do we

But please promise me that some times you will think…

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahah-ah-ah

Aaaah-aaaah-ah

Ah-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooof me!"

Around her she heard clapping from the managers and from her friends who were off stage. She looked around the house quickly and her eyes were drawn to the 5th box on the 1st tier. There was someone sitting in there though she could not see their face. They made a slight bowing gesture and she returned it. When she looked up again, the figure had disappeared into the shadows.

"Bravo Mademoiselle! And congratulations, you have just won the lead role for Hannibal!" exclaimed Firmin.

"WHAT!" shouted Carlotta, "MONSIEURS! YOU CANNON BE SERIOUS! I HAVE BEEN WORKING HERE AT THE OPERA FOR MUCH LONGER THAN 'ER! Surely you haven't forgotten that! What am I to do then?"

"Well, I guess that you can be her understudy." said Andre looking at Carlotta.

"UNDERSTUDY!"

"Yes, her understudy. You know, they're the people who takes over for an actor when they are not able to perform."

Carlotta looked absolutely livid. At that remark from Andre she switched from focusing her anger at the managers to Danae.

"YOU! YOU WILL NOT SUCEED! THE OPERA GHOST WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO PERFOME! JUST WATCH! ON YOUR FIRST DAY YOU WILL HAVE AN ACCIDENT!" at that moment, Danae started feeling weak and Anthony rushed to her side to help her stand. "I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS! ARMONDO! WE ARE LEAVING!" shouted Carlotta as she stormed off the stage shouting for her dog.

"Well then, Mademoiselle, don't fret. She's only upset that she didn't get the lead. We assure you that there is no opera ghost and that nothing will happen to you. Now Madame Giry will show you to your dorm." said Firmin as a lady in a green dress came walking towards her.

"Follow me please."

* * *

Madame Giry opened a door what looked like a miniature apartment. There was a sitting room right beyond the door and next to that was a small bathroom and a bedroom with two four poster beds with crimson hangings.

"This will be your room and if you wish, you friend may stay in here with you," she said nodding to Autumn, "But seeing that all four of you are staying here, there are a few things I must warn you about. You are never, on any circumstances, enter box five on the first tier. That box belongs to the opera ghost and he does not like to be disturbed."

"Didn't M. Firmin just say that there was no opera ghost?" asked Anthony.

"They do not know anything. He is still here. And that brings me to another thing; you are not to talk about the opera ghost while in the opera house. Oh and you girls might not want to change in front of that gilded mirror. Now if you two gentlemen would please come with me, I will show you to your rooms. Oh and one more thing. Keep you hand at the level of your eyes when you pass by shadows. Oh and parctices starttomorrow at 10:30. There is a dress in teh Wardrobefor you and a nightgown in the dresser."and with that cryptic warning, Madame Giry left the room with Anthony and Rudy following her.

* * *

Danae and Autumn stayed up talking for a few hours talking about the audition and their freaky experience with the light.

"What do you think happened?" asked Danae.

"I don't know. Maybe we just stepped into a tear in the time space continuum. Or GWS really is haunted. I know one thing though."

"What's that?"

"I'm going to have a huge bruse on my knee from when I fell down the stairs!" laughed Autumn. Danae laughed too but not as usually did. "Is there something wrong?"

"Hum? Oh no, not really. Did you by any chance happen to see anyone in the house when I was singing that aria?"

"No, why?"

"No reason. Just curious."

"Well, we better get to bed. You will probably have singing practice tomorrow any way." said Autumn as she looked at the grandfather clock in the sitting room. Danae nodded and lifted herself out of the chair that she was sitting in and they both headed into the bedroom. Danae looked at the mirror that was up against the wall next to the dresser as she took out a dressing gown from one of the drawers. She noticed that there was only one dress hanging in the wardrobe, and black dress with and empire waist. 'As soon as I get paid,' she thought, 'I'll have to go shopping for some cloths.'

**A/N:**

Dear readers,

I am pleased to say that the next chapter, "The Angel of Music" is already under construction. I would like to take this time to thank you all for reviewing this story. This is the only story that I have posted here that has actually gotten more than 2 reviews. Oh and I had someone ask me how you pronounce Danae's (my) name. It is pronounced duh-nay. Oh and just another note, Rudy, Anthony and Autumn are all my best friends in real life and so is Mark Files (yes that is his real last name ;D) Oh and I do not own "The Phantom of the Opera." That belongs to Monsieur Gaston Leroux and the musical belongs to Andrew Lloyd Webber. I urge all of you to go to your local library or book store and get M. Leroux's Phantom of the Opera. It is an awesome story and a lot of the things that appear in the musical happen in the book but it also has a lot of good stuff that you don't see in the new musical. Once again, I would like to thank you all for reviewing my story!

I remain your obedient servant,

D.L.


	4. The Angel of Music

Chapter IV: The Angel of Music

Danae was lying in her bed with the covers pulled right up to her nose. She always slept like this for some reason. The heavy blankets created the right temperature for her to sleep comfortably; not too hot, not too cold. 'What a wonderful dream.' She thought to herself as she tried to will herself to get up. 'I need to get up now or I'll be late for seminary.' (A/N: Seminary is an early morning bible study class that LDS kids (Mormons) take all through high school) She thought as she heard people walking around outside.

"Danae! Danae! Get up!" Danae tiredly opened one lazy eye and turned over onto her stomach. "I mean it Danae! GET UP!" the warm covers that she had been sleeping in were suddenly pulled off her and a wave of cold rushed over her.

"HEY! AUTUMN! It's cold! And what are you doing in my house?"

"Danae! Wake up!" exclaimed Autumn as she slapped her face to get her totally awake, "We're not in your house! We're not even in THE UNITED STATES!"

"WHAT! You're joking! And why can't I breath properly!"

"You're wearing a flippin' corset! That's why!"

"This is a dream. A horrible, twisted, sick dream." Danae said as she started pinching herself. After a particularly hard one, she came to the conclusion that she wasn't dreaming.

"Oh my word, I'm not dreaming!"

"Yeah and we have 15 minutes before practice!"

"WHAT!" Danae jumped out of bed and ran to the wardrobe and pulled out the dress that Madame Giry had left for her the previous night. She unbuttoned the back of it and slipped into it. If she had not been wearing the corset from her costume, she might not have been able to fit into it. "Autumn, could you help me please?" she called from behind the screen since Anthony had just walked into the room. After she had finished getting into the dress, she looked at herself in the mirror. "I look like I'm going to a funeral." She said critically. She never really liked wearing all black, earthy colors always looked better on her with her curly red hair.

"I think you look very classy." Said Anthony as he put his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. And with that she and her friends went off to their respected rehearsals. Autumn and Anthony went to dance, and Rudy went to go and help backstage, leaving Danae alone with the singing director. Practice was long and tedious and by the end of the day, Danae's voice was sore from singing for three hours. The stopped at the end for lunch where Danae was able to catch up with her friends. Autumn had become friends with Mme. Giry's daughter, Meg, and Anthony had learned some new dance steps. Lunch that day consisted of some very simple sandwiches, water and plenty of conversations. Many of the "ballet brats", as they were called around set, were talking about the incident with 'Don Juan Triumphant' two years ago.

"Do you remember what his face looked like?" asked one.

"Oh, yes! It was horrible! Like a walking corps! Just like what poor Joseph said he looked like!" said another.

"How many people do you think he ki-"

"That's enough out of all of you! You would do better to hold you tongue!" said Mme. Giry, ending the comments.

"Sorry Mme. Giry." The girls said in unison.

Once practice had ended, Danae went back to her dressing room. Autumn hadn't come back from ballet practice and so she decided to take a nap. She walked over to her bed and was shocked to see a letter and a rose on her pillow. She picked it up and smelled it, then she noticed that it had a black ribbon attached to the stem. She put it back down and looked at the letter. It was addressed to her in red ink. The writing looked like it had been scribbled on in a hurry. She turned it over and looked at the red wax seal with a skull on it and broke it to read the message inside.

"Dear Mademoiselle,

I enjoyed listening to you sing at the auditions for

Hannibal, though you still need to work on you singing. If you wish for me to help you, please meet me in box five at eleven o'clock sharp.

I remain you obedient servant,

O.G."

She picked up the rose with the black ribbon. It was simple, yet elegant. She quickly hid the note and the rose when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." she said.

"Hey, I thought I might find you here." Said Anthony as he closed the door behind him and sat down beside her on her bed and kissed her on the cheek like he had done earlier that morning. "You are you feeling?" he asked, his blue eyes staring into her brown-green ones.

"Okay, just a little spazed out from being in the 21st century and one moment and in the 17th century the next."

"Yeah, but you have to admit, the 1800's are quite nice."

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about revealing clothing like mini-skirts and halter-tops."

"-Or being tan."

"That, I can't do anyway. That's the cures we redheads have to bear. We don't tan, we burn." She said as she extended her forearm and exposed the extremely white skin on the underside of it. He put his arm around her and she came up closer to him and he kissed her once more on the cheek. He never kissed her on the lips. It was always either the forehead or the cheek and holding each other's pinky fingers. She wished that for once, just once, that he would give her the kiss that she had been longing for. They had been going out for months for heaven's sake! All of her friends were surprised that she had been in a relationship with a person for that long without having a ring stuck onto her finger. She sighed and closed her eyes as he rested her head on his shoulder as he started humming a Final Fantasy song. She could feel herself drifting into sleep and tried to keep herself up. 'No, you can't sleep. If you go to sleep, you won't wake up in time for your lesson. Stay awake. Stay awake. Must…. Stay….. Awake….' She lifted her head off of his shoulder and he did something that totally surprised her. He kissed her. It wasn't his normal peck on the cheek. This was a real kiss. The touch of his lips on hers was enough to send electric signals coursing throughout her body. She kissed him back, totally enjoying the moment. But of course, it had to end. Autumn came bursting through the door causing both Danae and Anthony to jump.

"Oh my gosh! Danae, you'll never guess what just happened! Oh, am I interrupting something?"

Danae very much wanted to say that yes, Autumn was interrupting something. She wanted to say that she had just ruined a perfectly bliss full moment and that she should leave the room and not come back for at least an hour but Anthony started to speak as soon as Danae opened her mouth.

"No, you weren't interrupting anything. Go on Autumn." Danae looked at him, 'How in the world can he call that nothing!'

"Well, this is going to make you really happy, Danae!" said Autumn who was literately bouncing up and down.

"What is it?"

"Okay! Here's a clue," she said trying to settle down, "'Paper faces on parade!'"

Now Danae was interested, "A masquerade! WHEN GIRL! DETAILS! DETAILS!"

"It's not 'till October 31. But that leaves us with a few weeks to prepare. It's going to be a few days after 'Hannibal.'"

"A few weeks! This is going to be so much fun! I can finally put my sewing skills to use!"

Anthony rolled his eyes at the pair of girls and walked out of the room to the boys dorms.

"Are you going to design a dress yourself?" asked Autumn.

"Yeah, it's going to be one of a kind! But it'll have to remain in the style of the times… so there goes total creativity."

"Do you think that you can design one for me? I've seen you sketches and they're really good."

"Sure. But you're going to have to tell me what you want it to look like so I don't end up making something that you would never wear…"

"Yeah, how about you do some sketches and then I'll choose which one I like the best. How's that sound?"

"Pretty good actually."

"Good. I'm going to go to bed. Are you coming?"

Danae looked up at the clock in the sitting room. Its large white face read 8:00. She still had a few hours until she had to be up in the ghost's box.

"Nah, I'm going to start on some of the dress designs. You can go ahead."

"Kay." said Autumn as she grabbed a towel from one of the drawers in the dresser and headed into the bathroom.

Danae pulled out some parchment from the desk in the corner of the room and started to doodle. She came up with about 4 different costumed for Autumn, One of the first ones was a ballerina costume with a flowing tutu. The second was more of a Greek style. It was more of a mix between Megera's dress and one of the Muses from the Disney movie "Hercules". The third was a lot like Anastasia's gold imperial dress with the blue sash. The fourth was a really simple looking Victorian dress that she remembered seeing her great-great grandmother wearing in a picture once.

She looked back up at the clock which now read 10:30. Autumn was already out of the bath and was probably reading a book in one of the arm chairs. Danae took one of the candles that were burning in their stands and headed silently out the door and into the dark hall way. The Opera seemed eerily quiet at night. Maybe it was just her imagination, but as she waked down the hallway towards the ghost's box, she had the feeling that she was being followed. She turned around and raised the candle higher as to spread the light further. There was no one there. She shook herself mentally and continued her journey up the stairs. CREEEEAK! 'What was that! Must have been a loose floor board.' Danae exhaled heavily and continued waling up the stairs. She was sure that someone was following her. But every time she turned around to see, there was nothing but darkness.

At last she reached the box. But this did not calm her nerves. How did she know that the Phantom wasn't just luring her into a trap? How did she know that he wouldn't harm her? She walked over to the red velvet seats in front of her and sat down. She pulled her long curly red hair over her shoulder and started to braid it. It was then that she heard the door open.

"Hello?" she said cautiously, standing up to see who had entered. She tied the black ribbon that she had in her hand at the bottom of her braid. 'Calm down, there's no one here.' she thought to herself as she turned back and looked out at the darkened Opera house. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see a man in dress cloths and a white half mask looking at her. His yellow eyes held no emotion and neither did the part of his face that wasn't covered by the mask.

"Are you Miss. Allen?" he asked, his voice sending chills down her spine. Danae nodded and the Phantom motioned for her to follow him.

Danae didn't know why she was following him. It seemed as if her feet had a mind of their own. He led her down into the cellars and then to a lake, on which was a boat. He stopped and held out his hand to help her into the boat and she took it. She could feel the cold of his hand resonating through his black gloves. Once she was seated, he began to row.

'Make small talk,' she thought 'On second thought, best keep your mouth shut until he talks to you.'

It wasn't long until they reached the opposite shore of the Phantom's Subterranean home. The Phantom once again held out his hand to help her out of the boat. Once she was on the shore, she could see the huge pipe organ surrounded by long candles, busts and a large padded chair that looked like a throne. There were halls leading off of this main room that lead down to more rooms. She had gotten a pretty sketch idea of what this place was supposed to look like form the sets for her school's performance of The Phantom of the Opera and also from the book, but actually seeing it in real life was enough to take her breath away. She couldn't help but stair in awe and the grandeur of this lair. The organ was a magnificent piece of art in its self, and if you looked long enough, the whole cave seemed grander than any palace.

The Phantom watched her as she turned around and gazed at her surroundings. She finally stopped and looked directly at him.

"How- Did you design this?"

"Yes, but you were not brought here to learn about that." he said as he turned and walked over to the organ. She followed and stood by him as he leafed through multiple sheets of paper. "We'll start with this." He said as he placed some sheets of music on the organ titled 'Lamentations of Jeremiah,' "Sing."

Danae began to sing, but in the middle of the beginning of the song he stopped playing the music.

"You're not breathing right." He said as he stood up and walked behind her, "You need to breath from your diaphragm," he then place one of his gloved hands on her stomach, "Try again."

She began to sing again. It felt weird to have him place his hand on her stomach. Every time her voice became weak, he would press down on her diaphragm, forcing the air out.

"Now lets see what you can do without my help." He returned to the organ and began to play again. She began to sing again, forcing the air out of her diaphragm during the song. Finally it ended and the Phantom stood up again. "That's enough for tonight. I will come for you at the same time tomorrow for our next lesson."

Danae nodded and followed him back to where the boat was docked. They reached the end of the lake and the Phantom lead her up a path that ended with a mirror. She could see through it into her dressing room. 'I hope Autumn's asleep.' The Phantom started to open the mirror when Danae spoke to him for the first time since they he left the house on the lake.

"May I ask you something?"

"You already have."

"Fine then, may I ask you _two_ things?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

"I have no name."

"You must have one other than 'The Phantom'" she persisted.

"Fine, if you wish to call me by a name, call me Erik." He said as he opened the mirror wide enough for her to walk through.

"Thank you, good-night Erik." She said as he shut the mirror behind her.

"Danae…" Danae froze at the sound of Autumn's voice. She looked to see her sleeping in one of the chairs in the next room. She breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to her dresser and pulled out the night gown she had worn the night before and undid her corset. It felt good to properly breath again, she thought as she came out from behind the changing screen and climbed under the covers of her bed, unaware of the eyes watching her from behind the mirror.

**A/N:**

**My dear readers,**

**Sorry this took so long to write! At least it's good and long, eh? I'd like to thank all of you who've reviewed so far! Oooo! Erik's watching her from behind the mirror! LOL! Well, I have to go. It's really late and I need to get off. See you!**

**-Diana**


	5. A plot against a singer

Chapter V: A Plot Against A Singer

The next morning wasn't as shocking as the first. Danae was actually up before Autumn. She glanced at the clock in her sitting room to see what time it was.

"Six o'clock. That gives me about an hour to get ready." She looked around the room for her dress from last night. "Where is it?" she mumbled under her breath. She went over to the changing screen and found it on a hanger. She took it down and a note fell form behind it. Danae bent down to pick it up and noticed that it was exactly like the one that she had received the previous night. She put the dress back and opened the note to read:

"Dear Mademoiselle Danae,

I am writing to remind you of our lesson this evening. Now that you know of the secret passage behind the mirror, I see no reason not to use it. If you run your fingers along the left side of the frame, you will find a small lever which will open the glass. Move it up and head strait down the tunnel. I will be waiting for you in there at eleven o'clock. Make sure NO ONE sees you enter through the mirror.

I remain your obedient servant,

O.G.

P.S. You will find a gift for you in the wardrobe."

Danae raised an eyebrow to this last statement and walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. Inside was not a rose, but a dark, forest green dress. She took it out and tried it on from behind the screen. She stepped out from behind it and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress fit her perfectly. The neck like went low enough to accentuate her long neck, and ended a little bit lower than her clavicle, giving her a modest amount of cleavage. The waist clung to the curves the corset created around her hips, giving the illusion of having an hourglass figure. The sleeves ended at her elbow in black lace and the hem the dress went all the way down to the floor.

"Thank you Erik." She said under her breath as she walked over to wake Autumn.

"Autumn, Autumn, get up."

"Five more minutes…." She mumbled as she turned over onto her other side, turning her back towards Danae. Danae walked across the room, picked up her pillow, and walked back to where Autumn was still sleeping.

"Ready…,"she said as she held the pillow over her head, "Aim…" WHACK! Danae brought the pillow down on Autumn's head. Autumn let out a yelp of surprise and Danae brought the pillow down again.

"Danae! Stop!" she yelped as the pillow collided with her sides.

"Not until you get out of bed!"

Autumn grabbed her pillow and started hitting Danae, both giggling and hitting each other until they collapsed in a giggling heap. Danae pushed herself from off the floor and gave Autumn her hand to help her up.

"So," said Autumn, gasping heavily, "Where'd you go last night?"

Danae quickly thought of an excuse, she couldn't very well say "Oh I just hanging out in the bottom of the Opera house, taking singing lessons from the Opera Ghost." That would only make Autumn worry. "I went for a walk with Anthony."

"Oh," said Autumn, giving her a sly look, "And what did you do?" she asked, her voice hinting of something suggestive.

"N-Nothing!" said Danae, surprised that she would think that she would do something like that, "We just talked! That's it."

"You were out pretty late to just be talking." She said with a slight smirk on her face. She loved to torment her friend like this.

Danae gave her a look that clearly said 'Drop it or I will not be responsible for my actions.' Autumn put her hands up in a surrender, "Fine, I'll drop it."

"I got some costume designs done last night." said Danae as she let out a long exasperated breath. She searched through the papers he had been doodling on the previous night, "Which one do you like?"

Autumn looked at all the designs for a few minutes before she actually made her decision. "I think this one if the best." She said pointing to the imperial looking gown.

"I think that one would probably look the best on you." Said Danae as she gathered up her designs and put them on top of the dresser, "Now, I just need something to take your measurements with."

"Maybe Madame Giry knows where we can find a measuring tape."

"I'll ask her after rehearsals. Oh and by the way, you might want to get dressed. You only have 30 minutes until we have to be on stage for rehearsal." said Danae, gesturing to Autumn's nightgown.

As they walked onto the set, Danae was greeted by Anthony with a surprise attack. He came up behind her, causing her to scream and laugh at the same time. This in turn caused a lot of the people on the stage to stair in their direction. Danae sank to the floor, hardly able to breath because of the restricting corset and her laughter.

"Holy-crap-," she gasped, "What -the hell -was that!"

"Good morning to you too!" he said as he planted a kiss on her cheek.

Monsieur Rere, the choir director, then made his way onto the stage, script in hand. "The costumes are here so you all need to go and change. If you need any alterations, please see Madame Giry."

Anthony gave Danae his hand and pulled her up from off of the floor. She gave him a quick hug and then followed all the girls to change into her costume.

Once Danae was in costume, she looked around the stage. She hadn't seen Carlotta in the dressing room. Surely she should be here to learn the lines as well incase Danae was unable to perform? She shrugged off the thought and walked over to her mark for the third act, center stage. Little did she know that someone was planning on sabotaging the young singer's practice and possibly her performance.

Carlotta was standing right above where Danae was receiving her instructions form the choir director. She reached up and grabbed the nearest sand bag in one hand and pulled out a knife that she had stolen from the kitchens that morning. As soon as Danae started singing, Carlotta began cutting the rope holding up the sand bag. "Au revoir Mademoiselle." She said as the last strands of the rope began to fray. She put down the knife and started to make her way back down to the stage. She definitely didn't want to miss this. Once she was back stage, Carlotta looked back up into the rafters and saw that the sand bag was just about to fall. "Come on….. Come on…" she urged from under her breath. Finally, the rope snapped and the bag came plummeting down to where Danae was standing.

"Mademoiselle Danae, can you come here for a minute?" Danae moved no more than half a pace away from her mark when the sand bag fell onto the exact place where she was standing only seconds ago.

Carlotta cursed under her breath in her Spanish tongue. She had been so close to getting rid of her young rival! 'Wait, maybe that was enough to shake her up a bit, it will probably be easier now to scare her away if she thinks her life is in danger. Yes! That could work!'

"Oh ma Dio!" she cried, acting as if she was genuinely concerned, "You Narrowly missed that sand bag dropped by ze Opera Ghost!"

"You honestly believe that the Opera Ghost is trying to get rid of Mademoiselle Danae?" said Madame Giry, who was the one who called out to Danae before the sand bag had dropped.

"Of course, who else would want to harm this perfectly good singer!"

"I highly doubt that." said Danae , seeing right through Carlotta ruse. She was trying to scare her away by blaming this on Erik. Ha! Fat chance!

"Why do you say that?" said Carlotta, now with a note of terror in her voice.

At that moment, a letter floated down from the rafters and landed at Madame Giry's feet. She looked at it and then handed it to Danae, who opened it and read it briefly before answering Carlotta's question. "Because you, Signora, are not as good an actress as you think you are. You're sweating." And Indeed she was, if only slightly. Danae turned and walked away from her, heading off to where the choir director was standing. "Oh, and Signora," she said, turning back to Carlotta, "For the record, I don't believe in ghosts."

That evening after dinner, Danae once again found herself sitting in an arm chair, reading the note that she was given during practice that day which was another reminder about the lesson that night and a warning to tell anyone about them either, waiting for a chance to slip out of the room unnoticed and venture back down into the basement of the opera house for her singing lesson. Maybe she should just tell Autumn that she was taking lessons from Erik. That would certainly make it easier for her to get out on time. But the only problem was, how would Autumn react to this? She would most certainly be hurt that she had lied to her about the previous night, and she might become overly spastic. Or she might not over react.

But what would Erik do? He had just told her not to tell anyone. Not even Autumn. How would he react if she disobeyed him? 'I suppose he might be angry enough to stop giving me lessons. I'll just have to convince him that Autumn is a trustworthy person. And I can't just keep lying to her forever. She'll probably find out sooner or later. Why not get it over with now?'

"Hey, Autumn?" she called out to where her friend was sitting at the table reading a book Meg Giry had loaned her.

"Yeah?"

"You can keep a secret, right?"

Autumn put down her book and looked up concernedly at her friend. "Danae you know I would never tell a secret of yours to anyone. You can trust me."

"You're right, I'm being silly. Well, anyway, you promise you won't tell anyone what I am about to tell you?"

"Danae! I swear, I won't tell a soul!"

"Okay," Danae took in a deep breath, trying to figure out how she was going to say this, "You remember when I auditioned for Hannibal, right? Well, after I finished singing, I saw someone in Box Five. The next day after practice when I went back to the dressing room, there was a note for me on my bed. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"No, not really."

Danae exhaled slowly, running a hand through her curly locks. "The letter was from the Phantom. He offered to give me vocal lessons. And tonight is to be my second lesson with him."

"So, why are you telling me about this?"

"Because I knew that you would end up finding out any way. And I don't like lying to you like I did today."

Autumn put a hand over her heart in mock surprise, "Oh Danae! Why? I can't believe that you would lie to me! I'm so devastated! I think I'll go and tell everyone in the opera house about this."

She made her way towards the door. Danae leapt to her feet, "No! You promised! Autumn!"

"I was only joking! No need to get so upset, Danae."

"Don't ever do that again." Danae said through nervous laughs.

"Why are you so jumpy all of a sudden? I thought that was my job?"

"I don't know how he'll react to my telling you about the lessons."

"You don't have to tell him right away you know. At least not yet."

Danae looked up at the clock on the wall. "It's 10:33. He'll be waiting for me." She whispered.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Night Autumn."

"Night Danae."

Danae walked over to the mirror, found the switch Erik told her about, and opened the glass. With a final wave at her friend, she closed the glass and made her way down the tunnel.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey! Sorry for the late update people. I kept getting stuck and so it took me a while to get this chapter done. Andalso I was going through a lot of drama with the Spring formal thing. IHAD a date but thenhe couldn't go andso I went alone (and cryed durring the first slow dance because no one had asked me and I had just broken up with one of my boyfriends and Ithought that one reason why he broke upwith me was because i wan'tpretty enough for him. Turns out he was justa ass and he was cheating onme with a FRESHMAN! stabs him with the almighty spork) Oh and just a note to **Autumn**, You can's kill me now! I posted it! See! points to story Oh and special thanks to **OritPetra** for encouraging me to continue this and for inspiring me to write a PhanPhic of my very own! I heart you! And thanks to all my readers and reviewers.You know I love you guys too! hugs you all Sorry Erik wan't in this chapter. There will be much more of him in the next one (which will probally be longer). 


	6. Lessons and Dreams

A/N: This chapter had descriptions and incidents from Leroux's novel, The Phantom of the Opera which is a really good read! It has a lot of details about Erik's home under the opera house. But It's more of a story about Christine.

* * *

Chapter VI: Lessons and dreams

"You're getting better." Erik said after what seemed like 5 hours of singing the same song over and over. It had been almost a week since Danae had told Autumn about her lesions with Erik.

"Thank you," she said, relaxing a little from having to stand up straight for so long, "You're a very good tutor."

"You are most welcome, mademoiselle."

Dana nodded and sat down beside him at the organ. Tonight's practice had been more strenuous, seeing that opening night of Hannibal was only two weeks away, and her strength was all but spent. All she wanted to do now was sleep. Before Erik could move away from her, Danae gently grasped his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. He started at the unfamiliar human contact, but did not pull away. 'Pauvre fille,' he thought, 'She's obviously drained.' Before he knew it, she had fallen asleep right there next to him. He gently shifted his weight and lifted her from the bench and into his arms. 'Elle est très légère.' He mused as he carried her to the Louis-Philippe room that his beloved Christine had once stayed in when she used to visit him in his lair.

Erik laid her onto the bed and pulled his mother's quilt over her sleeping form before he closed the door and returned to his organ.

* * *

Danae woke nearly 3 hours later to the sound of music playing. She closed her eyes and absorbed the emotion that each note carried from the organ. At some points it seemed joyous, while at others sorrowful. 

When it stopped, Danae climbed out of the bed and ventured out to where Erik was seated at the organ bench. He heard her open the door to her room and turned around.

"I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, you didn't. I woke up on my own. That song…it was very beautiful. I wish I had woken up earlier so I could have heard all of it."

Erik looked at the score he was working on and looked back up at Danae. "We should be going. If your room mate wakes up to find you gone, she might be suspicious."

"No, I don't think she'll worry too much. She knows-" Danae stopped suddenly.

"What does she know?" said Erik, suspicion edging his words, "You didn't tell her, did you?"

"No! I swear! I didn't tell her anything! Erik! I swear I didn't!"

Erik glared at her, "You know, it's very easy to tell if someone is lying. You mademoiselle, aren't telling me the truth."

Danae's eyes snapped up to meet his piercing stare. She had to tell him, she had to tell him, she had been keeping it a secret form him for a week and it was taking its toll on her conscience. She started to cry. Erik was taken aback by her sudden outburst of emotion. Had he really intimidated her that much?

"Erik, please, she's one of my best friends in the world., and I know I can trust her. Please, she promised me she wouldn't tell a soul."

Erik looked at her in this devastated state and tried to stay angry at what she had just done. He should be angry at her! But here she was, crying, looking absolutely pathetic. Just like Christine had when he had her Viscount locked in the torture chamber. He ran a distracted hand through his hair, "I'll take you back. Just… get in the boat."

She followed Erik to where the boat was docked and got in.

The trip back to Danae's dressing room was a silent one. Danae was crying silently now. When they reached the other side of the lake, Erik helped her out, but did not look at her, and once she was on the ground, he took his had away. When they finally reached the mirror, Erik slid the glass open for her, but did not look at her. This killed Danae inside. He couldn't even stand to look at her face.

There were no good-bye's or any reminders about their next lessons. Danae stepped through the mirror and turned just in time to see Erik slide the glass back into place, eyes cast down to the stone floor of the passageway. When it was finally shut, he turned and vanished into the darkness.

* * *

The next few days were complete torture for Danae. Not only because opening night was drawing closer, but also because she no longer had her evening lessons with Erik. For the first few nights Danae had actually gone down the passageway leading to the lake in hopes of finding Erik there waiting for her in the gondola, but once she reached the lake, those hopes were quickly dashed from her mind. 

Tonight she sat at the small table in her sitting room, pen in hand and a bottle of ink lying next to a sheet of paper.

"Erik,

I am truly sorry for having told Autumn about our lessons. I understand that you are upset about it, and you have a right to."

Her pen hovered over where she was about to write her next sentence. "This isn't going to work." She said to herself, crumpling up the paper. She made a hook-shot at the waste-paper basket in the corner of the room, and missed. She stared angrily at the ball of paper and got up walked to the mirror, "This is the last night I'm going to wait for him to come for me. If he doesn't come tonight, it's over." She slammed her right fist into her left palm, declaring that this was her final walk down to the lake.

She slid open the glass and made her way down towards the lake shore, praying that he would be there. Sadly, he was not. Danae stood there with her back against the wall. She know that he most likely wouldn't be there waiting for her. She had been foolish to think that he would actually come to take her back to his home on the lake for another lesson when he hadn't come the past five nights she had come in hopes of returning. She sank to the floor, al the stress of the past days ebbing out. 'I've been doing this a lot lately.' She thought to her self and laughed a little. Before she knew it, she had cried herself to sleep.

* * *

She was standing on the stage in Gardener W. Spring Auditorium., the defining sound of her peers shouts, whistles and cheers drowning out whoever was speaking. 

"_Born in Pasadena, California, Danae is the oldest of four children. In her spare time, Danae enjoys singing, painting and writing-"_

She was being led around by someone in a black suit, whose face she was not able to see. She looked at herself. She was wearing an all white gown with intricate beading all along the front and the hem.

"_She recently stared in our school's fall performance of 'The Phantom of the Opera' as Christine Daaé. Today she is being escorted by her friend Mathew Hasenphlug-"_

Danae finally was able to see the face of the man leading her, but it was not that of her friend Matt. It was Erik.

Suddenly, the dream shifted, the stage giving way to a magnificent ball room floor, the red seats in the house disappearing along with the balcony, and domed roof with it's scene of a Eden-like garden. She was at a masked ball; her dress was exactly the same as it had been in the previous dream. She was dancing with Erik. He was dressed as Red Death, his skeletal mask hiding the top half of his face. He guided her across the floor with effortless ease, his left hand placed on her back, the other holding her left hand. He seemed to be talking to her, but there was no sound. He was smiling, even laughing. And then his look of pure joy gave way to a look of concern.

"What's wrong?" he mouthed to her, "Raconte."

She heard him this time. All around her, the ball room darkened, all of the dancing couples disappearing. She opened her mouth to tell him that she was fine, but no sound came out.

Erik started speaking again, but every thing that came out was in French. She had no idea what he was saying. He placed his hands on the sides of her arms, putting his face extremely close to hers.

"Quel est mauvais? Raconte! Mon ange, raconte!"

* * *

Erik sat at his organ bench, thinking. It had been nearly a week since he stopped giving Danae her voice lessons. He thought that it would be easier to forget her. 'She's not Christine. She might sound like her, but is will never be Christine. Oublier la…. But why do I keep thinking about her?' Immediately, her face swam into his thoughts, her smile melting away the clod barriers he had built up around his heart, causing him to smile for the first time in years; a genuine smile. 

The third day after he had taken Danae up to her room, Erik had ventured up to the mirror to see if she might come back. But she was always either in the company of her friend or sleeping. Even thought he knew that Autumn knew of his existence, he felt uncomfortable at the thought of an other person seeing him.

Erik let out a sigh and stood up, grabbed his cloak, and headed for the boat. This time, he didn't give a flip if anyone else saw him, he was going to go retrieve Danae, and bring her back for her lessons. 'It's only because I want to enjoy an adequate performance of Hannibal.' He thought to himself.

As he drew closer to the other side of the shore, a figure laying the floor came into view. It wasn't until he was about twelve feet away that Erik noticed the shockingly red curly hair.

Erik reached the other side of the lake, and looked at the sleeping figure of Danae lying on the ground. He got out and picked her up. He started to make his way back to her dressing room and realized how awkward it would look to have him walk through the mirror carrying this girl in his arms. He rolled his eyes and headed back to the gondola. He set her down as gently as he could while still trying to maintain his won balance. Then, when he reached the other side of the lake where his home was, has had to do this little balancing act again.

Once safely on the stone floor of his subterranean home, Erik carried Danae back to the room she had slept in only a few nights ago. He laid her on the bed and pulled the quilt over her once more. "Stupid girl," he muttered to her, knowing full well that she couldn't hear him, "You could've gotten yourself killed by the Shade." He stepped away from the bed and closed the door behind him as he exited.

* * *

A/N: As usual, I'd like to thank my reviewers/ readers! I love you all so much! Especially you people who actually take the time to review my little story! You are the ones who give me the will to carry on! 

Special thanks go to OritPetra, and Autumn for all their help and support! And also to Ridel and all her chibi drawings of Erik at DA! You guys rock my socks!


	7. for lack of a better title Squee!

**A/N: HELP! NEED IDEAS FOR NEXT CHAPTERS!**

Chapter VII: (for lack of a better title) A joyous SQUEE, and Riggoletto.

Danae woke up to find herself in the room she had stayed in last time she was in Erik's home.

'This must be a dream.' She thought. She sat up and looked at her surroundings before falling back down onto the pillow and hitting her head painfully against the head-board.

"Owe." Danae closed her eyes against the pain, hoping that when she opened them she would be back in her dressing room.

She opened one eye tentatively and saw that her surroundings hadn't changed in the least bit.

"Damn it…" she cursed under her breath. 'Wait, "Damn it"? This is great! He doesn't hate me!' Danae took the pillow from behind her and let out a hyper, joyous "SQUEEEEEE!"

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and half ran, half waked, to where Erik was sitting at the organ bench.

Erik, who was so caught up in what he was writing, didn't notice Danae's presence until she had both of her arms around his shoulders in a hug.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!"

"For what, mademoiselle?" he said, trying to slow down his now rapidly beating heart.

"For letting me come back. I really am sorry about telling Autumn. I swear I won't tell anyone else. And if I ever do, you can stop giving me my lessons."

Erik smiled at her ultimatum. But he certainly had no plans to discontinue these lessons. He rather enjoyed having her over for company. It was a breath of fresh air to talk to someone as unique as this girl, as opposed to his weekly visits with Nadir and the lonely silence that once engulfed his life ever since Christine had left him.

"You are quite welcome. But my real intentions for bringing you back are only of selfish nature." This was true, for two reasons really, "The reasons of which will be revealed later. But for now, mademoiselle, kindly take your place over there." He indicated the right side of the organ with his hand and Danae took her usual spot, facing him, "We only have a few more days until opening night, and we still have to perfect some things," He started playing simple scales, "Sing."

Their lesson started off with the usual warm-ups to loosen her vocal chords and to get her to concentrate, and then move into the songs to be sung in the opera. Once finished Danae asked him why he has let her come back.

"I am only interested in continuing your lessons because I wish to enjoy an adequate performance for once. La Carlotta has a well enough voice to where she can _sound _professional, but to the trained ear, she is sings like a goat."

Danae laughed at his remark about Carlotta's voice, which immediately reminded her of a line from her favorite movie, Rigoletto. But the fact that he had only brought her down here for his own personal gain stung. Half of her wanted to yell at him, while the other half understood his reasons. Carlotta's voice was good, but it was unbearable for anyone with a trained ear (or overly sensitive in Danae's case) to listen to for more than 10 minutes.

Erik took out his pocket watch from inside his waist coat pocket. "We should be getting back. You've been here for almost a full day. It's just near 7 o'clock."

Danae did a double take, she was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost missed what Erik had just said, "What?"

Autumn sat in her usual chair in hers and Danae's sitting room reading one of the books she had borrowed form the library here in Paris. She was amazed that they actually had an English copy of Emma. She hadn't seen Danae all day today, but she didn't worry all that much since she knew that she was with Erik. But she did have to put up with Anthony's questions about where she was that day. Since it was a Saturday, the whole cast had the day off to rest up for opening night on Monday. Autumn simply told Anthony that Danae had gone out on a carriage ride through the country. This did nothing to calm him down, so she assured him that Danae would be back before 8 o'clock.

"But what if something happens to her?" he had said, "What if she gets lost, or the carriage is cornered by bandits?"

"Anthony, I assure you, there are no bandits in PARIS! This is not the Wild West! Besides, Danae's a tough girl, she can defend herself. Have you ever seen her when she's ticked?"

"No, I don't really go around making her angry just to see her reaction."

"Well, let's just say that her kicks hurt. BAD."

Autumn laughed silently as she remembered Anthony's face at that moment. He was so concerned.

She returned to her book, and became to encompassed in the author's descriptions about Mr. Knightly that she nearly jumped out of her chair when Anthony burst into the room.

"Danae! It's a lovely evening in Paris! We could go for a walk to a bistro and….You're not here….." he said as he finally realized that his girlfriend wasn't in the room. "Where is she?"

"Oh, um…. She's up on the roof. You know, to get some fresh air and look as the sky. You know how much she loves the sky!" Autumn knew that she must've sounded like such a dork, but if it meant keeping Dana's secret, she would even put in a whole dance routine to keep Danae and herself safe.

"But, didn't she get some air when she went out into the country?" he said as he moved towards the dressing room, looking for any sign that Danae had been there in the past few hours.

"Yes, but you can never get enough fresh air."

Anthony moved to inspect the mirror, and Autumn moved to the side of it as he went to go look behind the changing screen, "Would she still be there?"

"Er…. I suppose so." said Autumn uneasily.

Anthony looked around once more, "I think I'll just wait here for her." he said as he took a seat on Danae's bed.

Autumn heard a faint scratching coming from the mirror, but didn't dare look for fear that Anthony might realize that the mirror was more than what it seemed to be.

"Um, you know what, I need my privacy and besides, boys aren't allowed in the girls rooms," she said as she dragged Anthony off of Danae's bed and started pushing him through the door, "And I think that when Danae comes back she would be too tired to go for a walk, and you need to sleep."

"But-"

"GO!" yelled Autumn as she pushed him out of the room and closed the door on him, locking it. She turned around with her hand on her forehead just in time to see Danae step out from behind the mirror with none other than The Phantom himself.

"You just pushed my boyfriend!" said Danae, laughing slightly.

"Nice to see you too, Danae." Autumn said as she went over to pick up her book from where she had dropped it when Anthony came in. "Oh, hello Erik." She said as she noticed Erik standing in the mirror. He looked at her and then inclined his head and closed the mirror and left.

Danae rolled her eyes and turned to her friend, "So, why exactly was he Anthony looking for me?"

Autumn let out an exasperated breath, "Because he wants to take you out to dinner, I told him that you were up on the roof."

Danae groaned and flopped herself onto the bed. "I hope he doesn't come back…"

Autumn looked at her curiously, "Why?"

"I'm dead tired. I really don't feel up walking anywhere farther than the restroom."

Autumn laughed slightly and opened her book back to the page she left off on as Danae walked over to the changing screen and slipped into her night gown and climbed into bed.

**A/N: **Well, there's chapter 7 for all of you who waited so patiently for it

Sorry, I know that this totally sucks, but rather post something than nothing, right? And since it's been FOREVER since I posted something, I guessed that you guys would like to read more. Oh and I'd like to thank all of you who give me such positive reviews , you guys definitely light up my other wise…er…review-less life. LOL! Any way, I'm kind of running out of ideas –holds up empty idea jar- so can I borrow some from you? PLEEEEEASE? Come on people, bee good neighbors and lend me some ideas! Oh, and Autumn, you're ideas are great! As you can see, a lot of the stuff here came from our little "teleconferences" Oh, and someone pointed out that Autumn seems to be asleep in each chapter that she's in, so I decided to change that little thing. Thank you for pointing that out whoever you are (I'm too lazy to check the name right now ;; )

Any way, Peace be unto you, my reviewers,

Yours truly,

Diana-Lupin


	8. Spider

Chapter VIII

The next morning was Sunday, and like every other Sunday in the Opéra Populaire, there was no practice since mostly everyone either went out and visited family, or was off at church. The pervious Sunday, both Danae and Anthony went out in search for a Christian church, but had hardly any luck since the Parisian population was predominately catholic. Autumn chose to stay in her and Danae's dorm and read, since she didn't feel like listening to a 3 hour sermon. So Danae and Anthony spent their Sunday mornings together on the stage reading out of the Bible, and singing some of the hymns that they remembered. Rudy, on the other hand, slept all day, and only got up to relieve himself or eat. Being an atheist, he had no obligation to study a religion, let alone practice it. Danae couldn't see how someone could just go through life denying God, and believing that when you die, that was the end of you.

"What hymn should we sing next?" asked Anthony as he sat down to the piano in the orchestra pit, "'Nearer, My Got To Thee?'"

"How about, 'A Poor Wayfaring Man Of Grief'?" Danae said as she thumbed through Lamentations, "We haven't sung that in a while."

"I'd really like to hear you sing that with the choir if we ever get back home." Anthony said as he ran his fingers over the yellowing ivory keys of the piano. Danae looked back at the book in her hands. She had been so caught up in practicing for Hannibal, that she lost all thought of ever finding a way back home. A sudden wave of homesickness hit her like a ton of bricks. She never thought that she'd miss her nagging mother and screaming younger sisters, or even her baby brother or her father. But now she did. But most of all, she missed her friends back home.

Anthony's caring voice broke through the waves of emotion , and the tears that were threatening to fall at the thought of not being able to see her family again,

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes I fine," she lied.

Anthony looked back down at the keys of the piano again, and then an idea struck him. He got up from the bench, took Danae's hands and led her to the center of the stage. "Come here," he said softly into her ear, "You're audience is waiting." He indicated the rows of empty seats that filled the house, and then rose, pointing to the boxes, and finally the ceiling.

"Anthony, there's no one there…."

"Sure there is, you just have to look."

Danae sighed and looked around and tried to imagine that there were people in the audience. Her eyes lifted up to the boxes, and she could've sworn she saw Erik's silhouette in box five.

Anthony let go of her and seated himself at the piano and played the introduction for the hymn. He didn't sing with her this time, like she thought that he would, but let her sing solo.

_"A poor wayfaring man of grief_

_Hath often crossed me on my way  
Who sued so humbly for relief, _

_That I could never answer 'Nay.'  
I had not power to ask his name,  
Were to he went, or whence he came;  
Yet there was something in his eye that won my love;  
I know not why."_

She then skipped to the sixth and seventh verses, her favorites.

_"In pris'n I was him next, condemned,  
To meet a traitor's doom at morn.  
The tide of lying tongues I stemmed,  
And honored him 'mid shame and scorn.  
My friendship's utmost zeal to try,  
He asked if I for him would die.  
The flesh was weak; my blood ran chill,  
But My free spirit cried, 'I will.' _

The in a moment to my view  
The stranger started form disguise.

_The tokens in his hands I knew;  
The Savior stood before my eyes.  
He spake, and my poor name he named,  
'Of me thou hast not been ashamed.  
These deeds shall thy memorial be;  
Fear no, thou didst them unto me.'" _

She finished the song with tears in her eyes. Anthony walked up to where she was and wrapped his arms lovingly around her waist. She lifted her eyes back up to box five, and the shadow that once was there, was gone.

Of course, even if no one else in the Opéra Populaire was practicing, Erik still had Danae practice.

"That's all we shall do for today." Erik said as he gathered up the music sheets from atop the organ.

Danae nodded and sat down on a couch in the open room next to the organ, she scanned the bookshelves across from her, and decided to take a closer look at the tittles of the books. There were many different genres in Erik's bookshelves ranging from poetry, to mythology, to fiction, and all manner of text books on physiology, biology, and the like; but one book caught her attention. It was a little larger than the other books surrounding it, and had a dark red spine, with gold embossed lettering which read "Myths and Legends" Danae looked to see if Erik was watching her, but he seemed to be wholly engrossed in the score he was now composing. She looked back at the book, and walked over to the couch and scanned the table of contents for something she hadn't heard of before.

She was reading the story of the white rose and the nightingale when she felt something move across her shoulder. At first she thought that it was a stray hair that had come loose from the ribbon that tied her hair back, and ignored it. The she felt it again, this tie on her forearm. She looked at her arm, and what should be there, but a spider. She calmly put down her book and, as normally as if she was plucking a leaf from off of her clothes, urged the spider to crawl onto her finger. She held it up to her eyes and examined its tiny body. At home, she was usually the one called into a room to get rid of spiders since her sisters were too frightened to do anything with them themselves.

She used her other hand to push herself up off of the couch, and walked past where Erik to continue to another part of the house.

Erik looked up at her as she passed, and barely made out the spider on the tip of her finger. "You should've told me there was a spider, mademoiselle. You don't have to kill it yourself." '_You really don't have to kill it _at all_…'_ he thought to himself.

Danae looked at him, surprised by what he had just said, "It's okay. I can take care of it." she said as she smiled at him and walked on.

When she had returned back to the other room, after setting the spider in one of the many halls, she found Erik staring off into space. Danae looked at him for a brief moment, then returned to the couch and picked up the book again.

"You didn't have to kill that spider, you know. They're actually quite usefull…."

Danae looked at him, the calmly responded, "I know. I didn't kill it though… I just relocated it."

Erik looked at her like she was the strangest thing in the world. She truly different form Christine.

_"Erik, I would die of fright if one crept over me while I was asleep. I've always been terrified of spiders. I'd feel so much happier if you just . . . well, just got rid of it permanently."_

_He stiffened, and turned to look at her. "You want me to kill it?" he had said expressionlessly._

_"If—if you don't mind, " she stammered, suddenly unnerved by the pulsing venom of his gaze._

_"Oh, I don't mind at all," he said with an anger that was unmistakable. "I rather think the spider might have one or two objections to make—but then, after all, it's only a spider, isn't it? Just a mindless, soulless, ugly thing that has no right to live and frighten people!" Without another word he had clenched his fist tightly, dropped the crushed insect on the carpet and walked out of the room._

"_Erik! What about the other one?"_

"_Kill it yourself if you can find it!"_

"Aren't you afraid of spiders? I thought most women were…"

"I am, but only the really deadly ones. Harmless little brown spiders don't scare me in the least." she smiled at him, and went on back to the couch to finish reading the book. After a while she felt herself slipping from consciousness, and bade Erik good-night, and slipped off to the Louis-Philippe room.

Monday morning was the last day of rehearsal, and M. Frimin and M. André were stressing about how everything needed to be perfect, seeing as the emperor was to attend the gala.

M. Remé could not find anything for Danae to improve on, and so after her rehearsal, he instructed her not to sing, or strain her voice in any way. Danae nodded in agreement, since these were the same things Erik had been telling her to be careful of that whole morning. She changed out of her costume and sat in once of the seats in the house to watch the dancers rehearse.

Rudy had been sitting in one of the seats in the front row watching the ballerinas dancing and Mme. Giry yelling at them to dance with more feeling, or focus on where they were going.

"Hey." said Danae as she sat herself down in the seat to Rudy's left.

"Hey there doll-face!"

Danae rolled her eyes at this comment and turned her attention back to the dancers. Rudy tapped her shoulder and nodded to his lap, taking her hand and trying to pull her out of her seat. She smiled at him and shook her head, leaning in to whisper, "It isn't proper for a lady to sit on a gentleman's lap. Plus, I wouldn't be able to lean against you because of this corset."

Ruddy nodded, and put his feet up against the back of the seat in front of him. Danae turned her attention back to the ballet dancers, who were occasionally being yelled at by Mme. Giry.

Autumn was looking like a nervous wreck., and was constantly being reprimanded by Mme. Giry. Danae got up from her seat and walked backstage to wait for her boyfriend and best friend to finish their rehearsals. Finally, after a whole other hour, Mme. Had the dancers stretch, and then dismissed them.

Autumn accidentally tripped over someone's Pointe shoes, and ended up crashing into some of the male dancers. Flushing furiously, she muttered repeated apologies, and rushed back to where Danae was standing with her mouth covered in a vain attempt to hide her laughter. "Oh my gosh! Autumn, are you alright?"

Autumn laughed a little, then answered "I think I might had hurt my ankle, but other than that, I think I'll live."

Danae bent closer to her and muttered, "Did you honestly trip over those shoes on accident? 'Cause those guys were pretty hot." She tried not to laugh as those last words came out.

Autumn scowled at her, "You know how clumsy I am!"

"True. Oh, I think you lost a shoe..." Danae said as she pointed to Autumn's foot.

Autumn looked down at her feet and then behind her where one of the dancers were picking up her shoe. She turned back to Danae, going rigid.

"Oh-my-gosh!" I lost a shoe," she said as she hit her forehead with her palm, "And they're standing right there."

"I'll get it for you." Danae said, but as soon as she made one step towards the dancers, Autumn grabbed her arm, and pulled her back.

"No! Danae, no!"

"What? You won't go get your shoe, so I'll get it back for you. What's the big deal?"

"I'll get my own shoe." Autumn said. She took a deep breath and made an about-face towards the dancers, took her shoe, "Thank you," and marched back to Danae. "There, I got my shoe back. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going off to our dressing room." she then stomped off in the direction of the dorms.

The male dancers looked confused, and Danae put her hands up in a defensive gesture, mouthing "I don't know her!"

At that moment, Autumn had thrown her shoe at Danae, and it ended up hitting the floor a foot away from her, skidded across the floor, and tapped Danae's toe.

"Owe. My toe," she said sarcastically, " I don't think I'll be able to go on. Geeze, Autumn! Learn to throw, will yah?"

The second shoe ended up hitting her squarely on the shoulder.

"Owe!"

"There!"

A/N: I am so sorry that his took so damn long! You must all hate me! --;; I've had no time at all during the summer to write because of summer school, girls camp, and family vacations to Utah. And being away from the person who inspires all the wonderful-ness-ness of my writing doesn't help either. Yes Autumn, that would be you! This chapter is dedicated to you! Oh and just so you all know, that whole italicized bit after the spider thing was a scene from Susan Kay's Phantom. Wonderful book, and I will be referencing back to it in later chapters. But don't expect me to update in a week or less. You know me better than that. I now have school and since this is my Junior year in High School, I have to really focus on my grades if I ever want to make it into a University. Yeah, I know that I can always go to a junior college and make up classes that I need to go to college, but that would cost money. Why spend money on something that I can learn for free during High school? Oh and I just found out that I have to take Algebra- II and chemistry next year if I want to get into The University of Utah.. Whoopidy-fooking-do.

R-E-V-E-I-E-W! REEEEVIEW! YAY!


	9. Songs in the Dark

Chapter XI

Danae couldn't sleep that night. She had tried everything: humming to herself, reading a book, using reverse psychology and telling her self that she needed to stay awake. 'If only I had some geometry homework. _That_ would put me to sleep. That and History.'

She stared at the ceiling for a while, and then decided to take a short walk. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed, and walked over to the wardrobe on the other side of the room. She pulled out her robe and wrapped it around her as she slipped her stocking covered feet into some shoes. She looked up and her eye caught her reflection in the mirror. She wondered whether or not Erik was still awake. He probably was, she reminded herself, but it would be best if she let him have his privacy. She looked down at her shoes and then at Autumn, who had her back turned to her. Danae then walked to the table and grabbed on of the candle sticks and the tiny packet of matches from the vanity and headed out the door.

The halls were empty all along the hall, with only a few gas lamps to illuminate the wood floors and rafters. Once she reached the bottom floor, Danae turned to see the stage. Not all of the sets had been dragged back up from the cellars, but Danae could make out the basics of the Hannibal set. She let out a small breath and proceeded to make her way onto the stage. She absentmindedly pulled her long, crimson tresses over her shoulder and set the candle stick on the stage floor and walked away to the middle of the stage.

She started humming to herself and made out the tune of one of her favorite Celine Dion songs….

"There was nights when the wind was so cold  
That my body froze in bed  
If I just listened to it  
Right outside the window….

There were days when the sun was so cruel  
That all the tears turned to dust  
And I just knew my eyes were  
Drying up forever…"

Then she started singing with more power in her voice:

"I finished crying in the instant that you left  
And I can't remember where or when or how  
And I banished every memory you and I had ever made."

She stopped and then started singing softly, as if recalling distant memories, gradually getting a little stronger

"But when you touch me like this  
And you hold me like that  
I just have to admit  
That it's all coming back to me  
When I touch you like this  
And I hold you like that  
It's so hard to believe but  
It's all coming back to me  
It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now

There were moments of gold  
And there were flashes of light  
There were things I'd never do again  
But then they'd always seemed right  
There were nights of endless pleasure  
It was more than any laws allow!  
Baby, Baby,

Erik was walking along the rafters above the stage, looking at the unfinished sets when he saw a young woman walk onto the stage, candle in hand. Even though no one could possibly see him up in the rafter, he shrunk deeper into the shadows. Then she started to sing…

"If I kiss you like this  
And if you whisper like that  
It was lost long ago  
But it's all coming back to me  
If you want me like this  
And if you need me like that  
It was dead long ago  
But it's all coming back to me  
It's so hard to resist  
And it's all coming back to me  
I can barely recall  
But it's all coming back to me now  
But it's all coming back

There were those empty threats and hollow lies!..." she stopped and looked around,  
"And whenever you tried to hurt me  
I just hurt you even worse  
And so much deeper…

There were hours that just went on for days  
When alone at last we'd count up all the chances  
That were lost to us forever….

But you were history with the slamming of the door  
And I made myself so strong again somehow  
And I never wasted any of my time on you since then….

Erik descended the staircase to the stage and hid himself behind one of the curtains, and watched as Danae sang and danced a little to her song.

"But if I touch you like this  
And if you kiss me like that  
It was so long ago  
But it's all coming back to me  
If you touch me like this  
And if I kiss you like that  
It was gone with the wind  
But it's all coming back to me  
It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now

There were moments of gold  
And there were flashes of light  
There were things we'd never do again  
But then they'd always seemed right  
There were nights of endless pleasure  
It was more than all your laws allow  
Baby, Baby, Baby

When you touch me like this  
And when you hold me like that  
It was gone with the wind  
But it's all coming back to me  
When you see me like this  
And when I see you like that  
Then we see what we want to see  
All coming back to me  
The flesh and the fantasies  
All coming back to me  
I can barely recall  
But it's all coming back to me now

If you forgive me all this  
If I forgive you all that  
We forgive and forget  
And it's all coming back to me  
When you see me like this  
And when I see you like that  
We see just what we want to see  
Al coming back to me  
The flesh and the fantasies  
All coming back to me  
I can barely recall but it's all coming back to me now

It's all coming back to me now  
And when you kiss me like this  
It's all coming back to me now  
And when I touch you like that  
It's all coming back to me now  
If you do it like this  
It's all coming back to me now  
And if we..."

Danae ended the song and looked around her.

"Brava mademoiselle."

She jumped a little and blushed at the thought of someone hearing her sing when she was not aware she had an audience.

"Why did you stop singing?"

Danae looked in the direction of the voice and thought she saw the dim white glow of Erik's mask. "That was the end of the song…" She started playing with the ends of her hair nervously.

Thinking that Erik, had left, Dane bent down for her candle, and headed towards the hallway. Then the light caught the glow of the mask once more…

"Would you sing another? For me?"

Danae stood there, surprised that he had asked her to sing, but consented. A song by Frank Sinatra immediately came into her head. She began singing, her eyes never leaving the mask.

"There was a boy,  
A very strange, enchanted boy.  
They say he wondered very far,

Very far, over land and sea.

And then one day,

One magic day

He passed my way

And then we talked of many things,

Fools and kings,

And this he said to me:

'The greatest thing,

You'll ever learn

Is just to love,

And be loved

In return…'"

She ended her song, and broke her gaze away from the mask and looked at her feet, waiting for him to speak. She found this a lot easier than looking at the mask and waiting for him to speak. When he failed to speak first, she quietly said, "I should be getting back to bed. I'll probably look like a raccoon in the morning if I stay up any later."

And with that, she bade Erik goodnight once again, and headed back to her dressing room, Leaving Erik back in the shadows he found so comforting.


End file.
